Who wants to talk about Jamey Johnson's new double album, The Guitar Song?

I suppose I should add that I'm currently carrying the CD around in my backpack as a security blanket, much the way I did with Ke$ha for the first half of the year, which bodes well for its continuing significance in my life.

nice piece, xhuxk. one more album i'd love to see in there is vern gosdin's chiseled in stone, which, in addition to the original "set 'em up joe," has the great "do you believe me now," which jamey regularly covers in his shows. though that still doesn't beat the waylon album that, as you note, jamey covered twice on that lonesome song; if you add "are you sure hank done it this way," another jamey concert staple, he's gone three songs deep on that one. when jamey loves an album, he really really loves an album.

Just got this last night. Still working through it but I love it.I think the Waylon-ness got to me more on the last album than it does this time around. So far "That's Why I Write Songs" stood out, maybe just becuase it's so stripped back. I get a nice Mike Cooley vibe off his voice in that one.

i got this a couple of days ago. on the first listen, he doesn't seem to hit with the same immediacy as last time out. but that one was like wow! wtf? this one's more of a victory lap than anything else probably. odd thing is i like the 2nd disc better than the 1st so far. is this a common opinion (and no, i haven't read the thread ... yet)? also: wasn't at least some of the stuff last time out a little more uptempo? or was it that it maybe just came across that way cause he was in a "mean" mood at the time? or maybe that's just another delusion on my part? i dunno.

i'm falling hard right now for "thankful for the rain," a song i didn't notice much when i was playing the album over and over again in the fall. it's basically a reverse girl group lyric, a dude brooding over the lover who comes and goes at will, who has the light of love in her eyes tonight but will apparently not still love him tomorrow. and what's more, she expects him to be thankful for what he's getting. it feels almost unfinished, like he didn't quite get a chance to top off the lyrics before he recorded it, and that weirdly works with the song. not only can't he get his lover to settle down and stay with him, he can't even get his own song to settle down and stay.

Both West and Johnson gave glowering performances, brows furrowed with focus. Both tempered that intensity (and their reputations for being grouchy) with lyrics that made me laugh. Both are stronger craftsmen than performers, but the strength of their material made their performances shine. Both are considered renegades, yet appear to seek the affirmation of their fans and the respect of their heroes with an almost noble desperation.

I'll listen to it if a physical copy falls into my lap, or if somebody offers to pay me to write about it. But otherwise, no great loss if I don't -- tribute album = holding pattern by definition. Call me when he decides to make a real album.

When it came time to take the next step in his recording career, he listened to his heart and decided to embark on a labor of love. In a daring career move that is consistent with Johnson's penchant for bucking conventional industry wisdom to create a unique path, he decided to devote his time and creative efforts to honoring his late friend and celebrate traditional country music.

"Shortly after he first met Jamey, Hank was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer," says his widow, Suzi Cochran. "So for the two years he lived after that, Jamey would get off the road and pull his bus right up to the hospital, run up and see Hank and raise Hank's spirits. The last time Jamey saw Hank was the night before Hank died." Johnson joined Buddy Cannon and Billy Ray Cyrus at Cochran's bedside as they handed the guitar back and forth while singing Cochran's songs. Cochran died about six hours later.

It was Cochran's passing that inspired the idea for the tribute album. "We all met at the house one day and sang some songs," Johnson says. "Bobby Bare was introducing me to a bunch of songs that when I thought I heard it all, I hadn't heard anything yet. All the best stuff was the stuff I didn't know about yet.

Threw this on last night for a long drive... I cracked up over Dog In a Yard this time around. It never occurred to me before, but he's talking about being a dog and driving that metaphor home on every line and then all of a sudden he comes in with 'When I make love to you' and I was like, "Wait WHAT? Oh."

I know it'a a LOT of songs. But after listening to it last night and this morning all the way through it really flows together well.